Gadgets: New Leapster for summer doldrums

LeapFrog has introduced Leapster Explorer, a re-engineered, Flash-based edition of one of its most established educational gadgets. It is aimed at ages 4 to 9, and will arrive in stores July 15.

Its competitors include the Nintendo DSi XL, the Fisher-Price iXL and VTech's Flip called MobiGo, as well as the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad, and other smart phones, each with swelling app libraries.

Where LeapFrog hopes to make inroads is by playing up the educational angle.

The games are right out of the school curriculum, seasoned with characters from Toy Story 3, Dora the Explorer, Star Wars, SpongeBob and the National Football League. A USB link lets you download additional "Leaplets," or apps, including e-books from LeapFrog's Tag library.

Powered by four AA batteries or AC power, Leapster Explorer's mono-touch screen is clear but cramped, with fonts that can be hard to read. There's no backward-compatibility with existing Leapster cartridges.

All the Leapster games are configured to a single grade level at once. Because up to three children of different ages can have login names, Leapster Explorer can keep the education spark alive this summer.

One of the Apple iPad's many talents is that it enables you to share photos face to face rather than online, just like the old days of printed photographs.

If you want to add photos without your computer, Apple offers a Camera Connection Kit with two adapters that give you a choice of importing photos via your camera's USB cable or SD card.

The kit works as advertised, but the iPad has frustrating limitations. You can't assign a name to the album as you add photos; photos are deposited in an album generically titled "Last Import." It's also disappointing that the iPad will not display a photo's EXIF data, which includes camera settings like the aperture and shutter speed.

It is an easy way to import and share photos when you're on the road and off the computer. But it's a bit overpriced.